


Reflection on Echo Gray's Echoes

by allislaughter



Category: Fallout (Video Games), Fallout 4
Genre: Character Study, Essays, Gen, Psychic Abilities
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-04
Updated: 2020-11-04
Packaged: 2021-03-09 01:34:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 696
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27376549
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/allislaughter/pseuds/allislaughter
Summary: An informal essay about one of the psyker abilities of user glowstickia's original character, Echo Gray
Comments: 2
Kudos: 3





	Reflection on Echo Gray's Echoes

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Take Me Out With the Crowds](https://archiveofourown.org/works/23844244) by [Glowstickia](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Glowstickia/pseuds/Glowstickia). 



> A while back I promised glowstickia an essay about why I love her OC Echo so much. I never wrote that essay. However, while watching a twitch stream in which the streamer was writing an essay, I felt inspired to do an essay about Echo's powers instead.
> 
> Read Glow's [Echoes of You](https://archiveofourown.org/series/1718185) series for more about Echo, and follow Glow's Fallout blog on tumblr @[falloutglow](https://falloutglow.tumblr.com/).

The Fallout franchise has led to many fans creating their own original characters. Fans often take aspects of the canon games and apply them in unique ways, leading to a fandom full of diverse and well-thought out characters. Tumblr user falloutglow, also known as glowstickia on tumblr and Archive of Our Own, is no exception with her OCs, the most developed of which is her player character Samara “Echo” Gray, a psyker who takes the place of the Sole Survivor in Glow’s Fallout 4 playthrough while not being the Sole Survivor herself. Echo’s namesake ability is a detailed and fascinating power that changes the way Echo experiences the world.

Echo’s powers and skills include many standard player character abilities such as her sharpshooter skills, survival knowledge, and traits given to her by various perks within the game. In addition to this, Echo is a psyker with a number of mental abilities. Telekinesis and electrokinesis are understated abilities that have not yet been fully explored in fanfiction featuring Echo at the time of this writing, but her main and most used power is likewise the largest draw to her as a novel character. Inspired by media such as Pokemon Mystery Dungeon Explorers of Time/Darkness/Sky and the in-game location of Dunwich Borers, Glow developed the power of “echoes”, of which Echo’s name derives, in which Echo can experience sensations of the past in the form of visions and sounds around her. These sensations, the aforementioned echoes, are automatic and occur more frequently when entering new locations or physically touching unfamiliar items or people. The echoes occur with memories that have strong emotions attached.

The extensive range of these echoes and Echo’s own reactions to them are what make this power so special. Given the prevalence of fear and death that occured when the bombs fell in 2077, even over 200 years later, Echo will frequently dream about the Great War as she travels due to the long past memories of individuals who experienced the war in the places she rests. Her dreams will often lead to her “dying” as she lives out the memories of people who experienced a traumatic death in that location, to the point of treating it as her own murder as seen in the fanfiction [ _Rest & Rewind_](https://archiveofourown.org/works/26019238). Even when awake, Echo will experience these echoes, such as when she got a glimpse of Deacon’s past when she held his arm in the fanfic [ _Scars_](https://archiveofourown.org/works/23233972/chapters/55629403), or when she took the place of a baseball fan watching a game with a friend in the fanfic [ _Take Me Out With the Crowds_](https://archiveofourown.org/works/23844244). In the latter instance, Echo acted on a “script” where she repeated the things the baseball fan had once said as she lived through the echo until interrupted by Nick.

This ability also leads to a deeper connection to the supernatural. She is more receptive to ghost activity due to the strong emotions and unfinished business that leads to the formation of ghosts. Glow’s fic [ _Flicker_](https://archiveofourown.org/works/24994744) explores one such example of this, where Echo is able to see a ghost who targets her specifically, with a strong enough connection to call Echo by her real name. Echo’s supernatural connection also leads to her experiences with the eldritch, such as entering a trance in the Dunwich Borers and being drawn towards the sacrificial blade despite the danger, as shown in a hypothetical [ journal entry](https://falloutglow.tumblr.com/post/622959800862572544/write-a-typical-diaryjournal-page-by-your-oc) written in response to a tumblr ask.

The wide scope of Echo’s echo ability and the implementation of these powers are well-thought out and lead to a complex interaction with her environment that colors her perspective far more than the average person. She often loses her way due to simultaneously seeing the world as it was pre-war and how it currently is post war. Her powers activating upon contact with people leads to a touch aversion, and she hides the constant glow of her eyes when her powers are in use behind a pair of sunglasses that have become one of the iconic traits of her design. Echo is a phenomenal character with an intriguing moveset, and Glow’s stories featuring Echo are well-worth the read for all that and more.


End file.
